// To delete records from tables we create an SQL delete command.
// The question mark that we used in the where clause will be the
// holder of value that will be assigned by PreparedStatement class
String query = “DELETE FROM “+getTable()+” WHERE “+colName+” = ?”;

// Create a statement object. We use PreparedStatement here.

try {
PreparedStatement stmt = conn.prepareStatement(query);

// Pass a value of a the variable that will tell the database which
// records in the database to be deleted. Remember that when
// using a statement object the index parameter is start from
// 1 not 0 as in the Java array data type index
stmt.setString(1,value);

// Tell the statement to execute the command. The executeUpdate()
// method for a delete command returns number of records deleted
// as the command executed in the database. If no records was
// deleted it will simply return 0
int rows = stmt.executeUpdate();

“The town of Beebe, Arkansas suffered an eerie occurrence on New Year’s Eve last weekend: over 5,000 lifeless bird tragically fell from the sky. Impossibly, things appear to have gotten stranger in rural Arkansas as reports have surfaced of over 100,000 drum fish suddenly dying off roughly 100 miles west of the massive bird die-off. As was reported earlier, an AP interview with an expert affiliated with the state’s Livestock and Poultry Commission suggested that the birds may have died as a result of “lightning or high- altitude hail.” Another possibility for the bird die-off? New Year’s Eve fireworks may have startled the birds so severely, that they died from stress. But neither of these reasons would account for the massive fish die-of” – CNN.

The term “mob mentality” is used to refer to unique behavioral characteristics which emerge when people are in large groups.

More often than none I’ve been out with friends and witness someone get beat senseless by a mob of drunken angry idiots. There is no justification for fighting, but there is justification for self-defense and self preservation. With that said I do admit that I’ve been in a couple fights, but never have I ever part-taken in a fight where it was unfair or unjust. If your going to fight ,”fight one on one“. Sound foolish to say, but its a thing of pride and being a minority I’m quick to get on the defensive whenever a conflict arises.

Lets define it, Mob mentality also known as “Herd mentality” is defined as :

Mob Mentality is when a group of people commit actions because it would be harder to go against the mob.

How large numbers of people act in the same ways at the same times.

The way people act when they are in a group as opposed to the way they act as individuals and less to do with any sense of “justice”

Mob mentality deals with the spread of emotion, good or bad, among humans when they are in a medium to large size group.

Mob mentality refers to the behavioral tendency of people (or other social animals) to act in unison with the group of which they are a part. This is an evolutionary adaptation that provides the mechanism for collective intelligence, but also explains how morally reprehensible consensus can form. Behaviors ranging from gang rapes and beatings to the extermination of an entire people group.

In short the above is saying that the weaker more insecure members of the crowd mimic the actions of those with “higher status”. So they will do whatever the proposed leader does to show that they too have this quality of leadership ” alpha-male-ism”.

Crowds that gather on behalf of a grievance can involve herding behavior that turns violent, particularly when confronted by an opposing ethnic or racial group. The Los Angeles riots of 1992, New York Draft Riots and Tulsa Race Riot are notorious in U.S. history, but those episodes are dwarfed by the scale of violence and death during the Partition of India. Population exchanges between India and Pakistan brought millions of migrating Hindus and Muslims into proximity; the ensuing violence produced an estimated death toll of between 200,000 and one million. The idea of a “group mind” or “mob behavior” was put forward by the French social psychologists Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon. Sporting events can also produce violent episodes of herd behavior. The most violent single riot in history may be the sixth-century Nika riots in Constantinople, precipitated by partisan factions attending the chariot races.The football hooliganism of the 1980s was a well-publicized, latter-day example of sports violence.

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When crowds with strong similarities ( beliefs, race, etc) get together. Mob mentality is more likely to occur if they come into conflict with someone or a group with an opposing view or conflict of interests.

Benign herding behaviors may be frequent in everyday decisions based on learning from the information of others, as when a person on the street decides which of two restaurants to dine in. Suppose that both look appealing, but both are empty because it is early evening; so at random, this person chooses restaurant A. Soon a couple walks down the same street in search of a place to eat. They see that restaurant A has customers while B is empty, and choose A on the assumption that having customers makes it the better choice. And so on with other passersby into the evening, with restaurant A doing more business that night than B. This phenomenon is also referred as an information cascade.

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Humans make assumptions and come to quick decisions based on what everyone else is doing. In a sense they find it easy to follow a trend or behaviour than make an informative decision and set themselves apart.

How to counterattack ” mob mentality”.

Think for yourself, state your opinion even it’s not the consensus. Don’t succumb to peer pressure, and stand up for what you believe is important.

LEARN TO HANDLE YOUR LIQUOR. 🙂

I havent come across any scientific finding that say alcohol increases the chances of mob like behaviours, partly because I havent searched for any LOL. But Im willing to bet that groups under the influence of some type of alcohol are definitely more likely to follow the actions of the mob.

Long-Term Solutions emphasizing community involvement distinguish our work from that of global relief organizations.“Passing on the Gift” means recipients agree to share the offspring of gift animals with others in need, making them equal partners with Heifer in the fight to end world hunger.

“The crisis in Darfur, in western Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction and forced displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have died as a result of both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and more than 2 million civilians have been forced to flee from their homes. The situation on the ground has been plagued with renewed violence, Janjawid attacks, and aerial bombing by the Government of Sudan’s military. Currently, the Government of Sudan is resisting the UN Security Council-mandated peacekeeping operation that is desperately needed.

Amnesty representatives have met with UN, U.S. and European officials to call for their vigorous action and have pressed the governments of Chad and Sudan directly. Amnesty’s global membership has also organized letter-writing campaigns and demonstrations to draw attention to the crisis.
The international community must, at long last, put a stop to these atrocities and bring relief to those who have survived but continue to suffer. Join the growing movement of citizens worldwide who are taking action for Darfur.”

“In January 2011, Sudan is scheduled to decide whether or not to divide itself in two. Preparations are woefully behind, and civilians are at real risk of escalating violence and a potential return to war. In Darfur, nearly three million civilians are living in camps and facing violence, rape and critical shortages of water and medical aid. The country’s president remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

In high school I found a majority of my classes boring and uninteresting. Throughout grades 7-10 I did just enough to keep up my satisfactory C+ average. It wasnt until my 11th grade that I realised there would be no more coasting along and going through motions. After these last year was completed it would be on to the “big scary” post secondary education, so I had no choice but to buckle down and improve my grades. A majority of the faculties then claimed that they looked at your 11th and 12th grades marks to ensure you admission.

I moved from a C+ average to the high B’s and graduated . It wasn’t until after I received my diploma that it hit me ” how am I going to pay for university?”. I had moved out on my own at the age of 17 so having my parents pay for it wasn’t an option, especially since my father lived across the globe in a third world country.

So options were :

Take out a student loan and be raped with obscene payback interest rates for the rest of my life.

Work and pay my way through school

Not go to university.

I chose to work and pay my way through school, I took a year off after high school in an attempt to save up money. I quickly realized that rent and bills were cutting a huge chunk of money out my savings. So for my first couple years I ended up taking out a student loan to help me along. During my 2nd and 3rd year I was able to get a decent paying internship that was very flexible with my schooling. I still regret taking out that student loan, this the means the government pretty much owns my bank account after I graduate.

2. Among student loan borrowers, 25% left school with at least $30,500 worth of college debt.

3. 10% of all college students borrowed $39,300 or more for their education.

4. Student, attending private, non-profit colleges, borrowed an average of $16,900 in private student loans, which are the least desirable college loans.

I’m sure as a youngster we all heard the phrase “education is key”” , it leads to a better job, a better life and the list goes on. My question is ” if education is so important, why isn’t it free?”. This is a very complex question, many arguments for and against it can be made.

excerpt:

Most would agree that there isn’t sufficient funding for the sector and that extra income has to come from somewhere. Some Vice-Chancellors think it should come directly from students through unregulated and variable fees. By contrast the National Union of Students (NUS) thinks it should all come from public money through taxation of the rich.

The argument against free education is this; it’s not free! Graduates are obviously good for the economy and society and there is some mileage in suggesting that Universities and individual degrees should be government subsidised. But the money has to come from somewhere and do we really think it’s fair to ask the majority of general taxpayers who didn’t directly benefit from Higher Education to completely pay for those who did?